Can I unravel a sweater?

[liawbh]

and then knit with the yarn? i found the sweater at the Dollar Tree store, and it looks loosely knit and not felted, so I thought maybe . . .?

TIA
Lia

[annakiss]

I've heard that's what they used to do when knitting was for necessity and not for play.

[feebeeglee]

Oh yes yes yes, you can!

http://rekal.zibibboisgood.com/ has lots of tips

[pamelamama]

You sure can do it... Susan of wonderful woolies just unknit and reknit a sweater into longies! She overdyed it too. Came out great.

[mamadawg]

Yes, you can (as you've seen from the other people who have responded).

Lia! I miss you! I've been wondering where you are. I'm happy to see you're still around.

[liawbh]

Thanks mamadawg! I got sidetracked by the holidays! PLus I got yarn and needles for gifts, so . . .
Yay, I'm excited to make a soaker with that sweater. It's great colors.

[mama_o_sk]

http://www.thekittyzoo.com/recycledyarn.html

this gives a very good idea of how to take apart a sweater, imo.

[liawbh]

I did it! it's unraveled. It was a little harder than in the tutorial (thanks for the link mama o sk) because it's a very fluffy , almost homespun type yarn, so some places were felted/fuzzed together. But I know have several different sized balls of yarn! I'll post pix later. It's really pretty and soft ! 94% wool 6% rayon.

[triciarn]

Some resale the yarn on ebay check this link out!

Here is someones blog about this http://www.yarntomato.com/2004/04/un...-for-yarn.html

Tricia

[liawbh]

That's too funny! Seems like a lot of $ for uncertain amounts, but that's just me!

[mainegirl]

All right, I'm almost hesitant to share my secret but here it is...

1. Go to Goodwill and buy a sweater with yarn you like for $3.

2. Wash sweater (trust me, it's easier to wash before than after).

3. Unravel. Voila! 5-7 skeins of yarn for pennies!

I buy a lot of Goodwill sweaters.

- Jen

[mainegirl]

Oh, okay, someone already linked it. Well, it's not an original idea, but it sure is fun! I get lots of compliments on the things I make out of recycled yarn.

AND, if you come across a lovely wool sweater that has a tight weave and/or is starting to felt, buy it, felt it, make something fabulous!

- Jen

[mainegirl]

I wanted to share some of the unraveling I did last night...since I wash my sweaters beforehand I don't bother weighting it to take out the kink (I like the kink, personally).

I found a great site with info on how to wind your own pull skeins, it is super-easy and the finished product not only really works but it looks great!

http://www.onceuponapattern.com/custom/pullskein.html

I don't have pics of the original sweater, I had already started taking it apart, but it was a stockinette-stitch short-sleeved number. The first two pics are the tags (for fiber content) and a close-up of the stitch so you can see the texture of the yarn, and the last is a pic of two of the four grapefruit-sized balls I got from it...about 12 ounces all told.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...1_yarn_tag.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...arn_stitch.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...yarn_balls.jpg

- Jen

[Basylica]

I just did a girl's gap sweater in very bulky cotton, slate blue.
I did the sleeve and part of the turtleneck of a woman's sweater, banana republic, in a bulky acrylic/wool blend in a pretty amethyst purple color. Will work on that tonight.

And i've got a 100% merino sweater (men's, abercrombie) in tan that is waiting it's turn too.

I'll be washing and weighting later, soon as we finish the major move (from a apt to our first home! furniture is going this weekend so we will be mostly done then) so i have my stuff again...lol.

I found the most beautiful cashmere (saks) sweater in a very lightweight wool...sock/laceweight, in a baby pink and I LUUURRRRVVVVED it. It was like knee length long too (ah, the 80s!)
But i'm pretty sure it was serged. it was very hard to tell and 10 bucks!

Still, I want to go back and check again without fussy "hold me" baby to hinder me. hehe.

[ts_peach]

thanks for the links on how to unravel the sweater and how to make a pull string ball... wonderful!

[purplemama]

I was watching an episode of Knitty Gritty today on the DIY network, and it showed how to do this! The guest was a gal from Knitty.com, can't remember her name offhand. Very cool... kind of intimidating at first, but they gave some good pointers on there and made it look almost simple.

[liawbh]

in my other thread I posted pix. It was pretty easy, except the type of yarn was very fragile in some place, so I ended up with several small balls of yarn. BUt it was definately worth it, since I only spent $1!

[triciarn]

Here is the best link for recycle sweaters!!

I have been looking for it for several days and finally found it today!!! It gives you instructions for measurind yardage and figuring needle sizes.

Tricia